


Heart of Pride

by giraffewrites



Category: Girl Friends (Manga)
Genre: Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Married Life, Post-Canon, They're in their late twenties ish, implied alcohol consumption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:27:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25145434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffewrites/pseuds/giraffewrites
Summary: After months of hard work and dedication, Akko has finally found a place for her own salon. Her wife, Mari, gets her something to show how proud of her she is.
Relationships: Kumakura Mariko/Oohashi Akiko
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: Oliver’s birthday zine





	Heart of Pride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oliver__Niko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oliver__Niko/gifts).



> The other piece I wrote for Ollie’s birthday zine. Akko and Mari are so adorable, I had to write them!

The January wind is cold tonight, rushing past everyone and blowing their unbuttoned coats backwards. It’s sharp; scraping across people’s skin like a blade against armour. Everyone is rushing to get home, and Akko and Mari are no exceptions. They may be warmer due to the drinks they had with dinner, but it doesn’t make them feel like they’re suddenly in the Bahamas.

“Will you get in?” Mari laughs, trying to push Akko inside.

Hands gripping onto the doorframe, Akko shakes her head. “Only if you kiss me,” she sings, puckering her lips, hair blowing the side.

Mari rolls her eyes, but there’s no annoyance in her. She kisses Akko without hesitation, and staying true to her word, Akko steps inside.

The warmth of the hallway is greatly welcomed by the two of them. As Mari locks the door, fingers protected under woolly gloves, she spots Akko in her peripheral vision looking in the mirror. Once she’s locked the doors and pocketed the keys, Akko pulls her next to her.

Mari is horrified at her reflection. Whilst Akko looks, as always, beautiful, Mari looks quite the opposite. Her short hair is sticking out in every direction possible, even though by the rules of physics, the length of it shouldn’t be able to, and clouds of mascara float under her lashlines. The only thing that doesn’t make her look like she’s been dragged through a field of wheat is her outfit; a monochrome dress, visible through her half zipped coat.

“Go sit down,” Mari encourages, starting to take Akko’s fluffy coat off from her shoulders. “I’ll get us some tea.”

“Not yet!” Akko insists, shrugging Mari off. She gets her phone out and loops her arm around Mari’s, positioning her to look at the mirror. “I wanna take a selfie.”

“Akko,” Mari says softly, trying to tame her hair with one hand with no avail. “We took so many before we went out for dinner, don’t we have enough?”

“Nope!” Akko holds her phone up to the mirror, opting to use the back camera. She squishes their cheeks together. “Now say cheese!”

She doesn’t have the chance to say anything. Akko’s taken the photo before she can even blink. “You have to give me time,” she huffs. She looks at the photo and groans, “Akko…”

“You look so cute!” Akko squeals, cutting her off. She zooms into the photo with her finger and thumb, filling the screen with Mari’s face.

Mari disagrees. She’s looking in the wrong direction, her cheeks are pink (and not even in the flattering way Akko’s are), and her hair… jeez. You’d think she doesn’t know what a hairbrush is. “Delete it,” she whines and stretches her arm out, only for Akko to put the phone out of Mari’s reach.

“No,” Akko plants a kiss on Mari’s forehead, “it’s cute.”

Knowing it’s a losing game to try and get Akko to delete a selfish she likes, Mari gives in. “Fine,” she sighs, unzipping her coat off and starting to remove her scarf, “give me your coat, I’m going to make us tea.”

Akko listens, giving Mari her coat and placing her heels by the coat rack. Their wall is covered with framed photos. The biggest two being from their trips to New York and London, and around them are snapshots from all different occasions, including the first manga Tamanin published.

In the kitchen, Mari busies herself with making tea. Usually, she’ll make it from scratch, with the leaves they grow in the greenhouse. But tonight she opts for the teabags from the store, choosing peach, Akko’s favourite. Akko likes her tea sweeter than Mari does, so once the tray is ready, she adds a small china bowl full of sugar cubes and sets off down the hall.

It’s not a surprise to find Akko laying on the couch, one leg stretched across the cushions, the other hanging off the edge. Their living room is the smallest part of the house (after their offices), but Mari loves it all the same. It’s taken years to fill their bookcase up with books, DVDs, and collectibles, and it’s simultaneously fun and dreadful when they decide to move items around every few months. The TV stand is next to it, and just where it ends, the wall curves outwards, holding large windows that cover the room with sunlight.

Mari sets the tray on the coffee table, moving her cookbook to the side. With only slight difficulty, she takes Akko by the waist and moves her to sit up. “You had two drinks,” she teases, tucking a few strands of newly dyed hair behind her ears. “You’re such a lightweight.”

“Nu-uh,” Akko replies, watching Mari pour their tea. “I’m sleepy, that’s why I was laying down.”

“Sure,” Mari smirks slightly, although she knows there’s truth to what Akko’s saying. She adds three sugarcubes into the cup, stirs it, and places it in Akko’s hands.

Akko sips the tea. She sinks into the back of the couch, “Peach, my favourite.”

Mari simply smiles, her own cup in her hands. She positions herself with her back against the arm, legs crossed, softly bumping Akko’s leg.

They drink in silence for a few seconds before Akko breaks it. “My own salon…” she trails off, head tilted back to the ceiling. “I can’t believe it.”

“I knew you could do it,” Mari says, truth laced in every word. “You’ve worked really hard, I’m so proud of you.”

After months of saving and planning, Akko’s finally started leasing a place to run her own salon.

Akko’s cheeks redden, and not because of the alcohol in her system. Mindful of her tea, she moves to lay her head on Mari’s lap. “I can’t wait… it’s gonna be great.”

Mari pushes her fingers through Akko’s hair. “It is,” she agrees. “Sugiyama seemed excited, she loves it when you do her hair.”

“That’s only because I give her a discount.”

Mari laughs with her, but shakes her head. “It’s because you’re a great hairdresser, and makeup artist.”

Her cheeks almost glowing, Akko turns and pushes her face into Mari’s stomach. “You’re pretty amazing too, yanno.”

Mari’s cheeks begin to match Akko’s.

There’s a few more minutes of lazy, half-lidded conversation before Mari’s forced to take the tea from Akko, watching as she drops off to sleep.

When Akko wakes up, Mari’s no longer on the couch. Akko’s head is now resting against a pillow. Slowly, she sits up and looks around, scratching her head. Without any regard for her eye makeup, she rubs her eyes with her fists and lets out a yawn. Starting to tune into her surroundings, she hears voices from the hallway.

“Mari?”

Whatever conversation was going on, stops immediately.

“Don’t come out here,” Mari says, then whispers something that isn’t to Akko. “I won’t be a moment!”

Her sleepiness outweighs her curiosity, so Akko shrugs and leans back into the couch once more. The conversation in the hallway starts again, but Akko looks over to the bookshelf. On the same shelf as Akko’s pop vinyl of Marie from Aristocats is a framed sketch of Mari and Akko on their wedding day that Tamanin drew. She plays with the ring on her finger and gets up, about to walk over to the picture when she hears the front door closing.

Turning around, she soon finds Mari stood with just her head sticking around the doorframe. Her grin makes Akko ask, “What?” She crosses her arms, “Who was that?”

Instead of answering her, Mari tells Akko to close her eyes. “It’s a surprise,” she explains when Akko hesitates.

Akko moves to try and see whatever it is Mari’s hiding, but isn’t able to see, still.

“Just close your eyes,” Mari insists, she pulls her best puppy dog eyes, sticking her lip out, “please?”

Akko sighs but does as she’s told, closing her eyes and placing her hands over them. Her curiosity and excitement rise as the sound of Mari’s footsteps getting closer, until they finally stop. “Okay, open.”

When Akko does, in front of her isn’t what she’s expecting. Blocking Mari’s face, cradled in her hands, is a small, fluffy white kitten. It's asleep, with a pink collar on that has a bow at the back. “She’s for you,” Mari says, lowering the kitten. Now holding it with only one hand, she uses the move Akko’s hands and place it within them.

Akko’s speechless. The kitten is warm in her hands, soft fur brushing against her skin when it moves its head. “I…” She trails off, looking up at Mari, “Why?”

“I wanted to get you a congratulation present, for starting up the salon,” Mari explains, running her hands over Akko’s arms.

“But you already took us all out for dinner!”

“And? I can do more than one nice thing for my wife,” Mari teases, leaning in to kiss Akko on the cheek.

Akko looks down at the kitten again, running her fingertip over its head. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“A girl,” Mari replies, joining in with petting the feline. “I already know what you’re going to call her.”

Akko blushes at the teasing.

They go to bed earlier than they usually do. These last few weeks, trailing behind Christmas and New Years, the nights have been spent watching different Netflix shows and getting through the leftover chocolates and sweets. But tonight they’re both tired, and find themselves laying in bed, facing each other. Marie is curled up, half on Akko’s pillow, half on Mari’s.

Mari’s already asleep, legs entwined with Akko’s. There’s a little bit of mascara residue at the outer corners of her eyes, and her hand is wrapped around Akko’s wrist, resting just above the covers.

Akko on the other hand is very much awake. She rubs her fingers against Marie’s head, smiling at the purrs that she lets out. Once again she finds herself looking at her wedding band. She smiles and presses a gentle kiss to Mari’s hand.

She doesn’t know what she did to deserve someone as wonderful as Mari. But she’s glad she has her.


End file.
